1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of gaming, particularly card gaming, and both casino table card games and electronic video gaming apparatus. In particular, a wagering game that may be played on single player video, multiple player video, Internet or live casino table games (or mixed live and automated systems) is described.
2. Background of the Art
Many different wagering games presently exist for use in both home and casino environments. Such games should necessarily be exciting, uncomplicated and easy to learn so as to avoid frustrating the players. Card games such as poker and Twenty-One have gained widespread popularity because of their established ranking of hands and well known rules. Furthermore, each of these games usually involves continuous wagering opportunities for the players thus increasing player participation and excitement. Lastly, the games move fairly quickly to maintain action and activity. All of these factors have created games that are widely accepted and widely known.
Some twenty-one tables offer a side bet game called “Over-Under” or some variation thereof. In addition to the normal markings on the table which are desirable for play of twenty-one (designated spaces for cards, designated spaces for bets, etc.), tables where Over-Under is played also have two additional designated areas for bets. Usually the designated areas for the additional side bets are in the form of circles. Each circle identifies a specific bet, either “Over Thirteen” or “Under Thirteen.” Before the turn of the first card in each hand of twenty-one, each player may place a bet as to whether the first two cards will total “Over Thirteen” or “Under Thirteen” by placing a bet in the appropriate circle. An amount of money equal to or less than the basic twenty-one wager may be placed in either circle. After the deal of the first two cards to each player, but before conclusion of the hand, wagers made on the side bet game of Over-Under have their wagers resolved (paid off or captured) by the house. If the bet was Over Thirteen and the total of the cards was over thirteen, the house would pay equal odds on the side bet wager. If the total count of the first two cards was thirteen or under, the house would capture the bet. Ties in this game (any total of thirteen) always allows the house to capture the bet. This side game has attained some level of acceptance and popularity, but payouts are limited to one-to-one odds, with no special awards or multiplication of bets available to increase the excitement of the game. The play of the Over-Under game cannot possibly affect decisions to be made in the play of the Twenty-One game as the Over-Under game is completed when the first two cards are dealt. Play of the Twenty-One game cannot either influence the play of the Over-Under game or vice versa.
Many variations in the play of poker-type games have also been introduced to increase the excitement and interest in the play of both table and video versions of poker. For example, in a video version of draw poker, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,356,140 and 5,531,440 teach that after an initial wager, two distinct hands may be dealt, and the player may select between the two hands for continued play of the game. Only a single hand and a single game may be played on the wager.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,863,041 describes Pai Gow Poker with an auxiliary game. In the ordinary play of Pai Gow Poker, seven cards are dealt to a player, and the player divides the hand into a five-card poker hand and a two-card poker hand. Each of the hands made by a player must beat equivalently created hands (five and two-card hands) dealt to the dealer. In addition to the normal play of Pai Gow Poker, a player has the option of placing a bonus bet. The bonus bet encompasses the attainment of hands of a predetermined high poker rank and the award of bonuses for attaining those hands only after the bonus bet is made. Although the front hand is referred to as the Low hand, it must only be lower in rank than the High, Back hand, and high front hands are desirable.
In certain gaming jurisdictions, such as Minnesota, a variant of Pai Gow is allowed where a player receiving an extremely low Pai Gow hand (e.g., 9, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2) receives an automatic bonus for the low hand. No separate wager needs to be made on the play to win such a bonus, and the underlying wager is likely to lose on the play of the Pai Gow Game. This variant is played at Canterbury Card Club in Shakopee, Minn.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,494,295 and 5,697,614 describe a casino table card game and apparatus in which a player may select any number of predetermined hand ranking rules to apply to the play of a hand. A player is dealt an initial, partial hand, and the player then elects a format of play on that initial hand, which format is based upon selection of a set(s) of predetermined hand ranking rules apply to the hand. In a preferred game, the dealer receives two separate bank hands, one that utilizes the hand ranks of standard poker and one that utilizes the hand ranks of low-ball poker. Once each player has received four of his five cards, each player decides which of the dealer's two hands to play against, with the option of playing against both (as in selecting both ways in a Hi-Low poker game). Then each player receives his or her fifth, and last, card. At this point, the “bank” hands are exposed and each player's hand is compared to the specific “bank” hand, or hands, that they have elected to play against, winners are determined, and wagers are settled. The election of playing against a high rank hand, low rank hand or both ways, does not alter the strategy or selection of cards, as only the hand dealt to the player is utilized, without any replacement of cards coincident with play strategy.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,781 describes a method and apparatus for playing a poker-type card game. A number of different stud poker hands are dealt on a playing surface and players wager as to which will have the highest stud poker ranking. Game options include choosing the hand with the lowest rank instead of the highest rank. As each hand is fixed and there are no replacement cards, there can be no play of one hand that is influenced by the play of another hand.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,406,020 describes a method of playing a card game particularly adapted for casino wagering. The game uses one or more standard fifty-two card decks and involves a banker, a dealer and one or more players. The player has the option of wagering against a banker's high hand, low hand or both by placing an ANTE bet or bets. The dealer deals two cards to each player placing an ANTE bet and deals three cards to the banker. After viewing the dealt hand, a player has the option of surrendering his ANTE bet or bets or placing a PLAY bet or bets. Winning hands are determined by the numerical value of the cards held by the player as compared to the numerical value of the cards held by the banker. Bonus payoffs are paid to the player if the player's hand qualifies as a certain predefined high or low hand. A Jackpot to be paid for a certain defined hand may be employed. The game is played with card count, not poker ranking, although a count of twenty is described as a pair, as when special decks with only counts thereon are used.
A high-low card game in which players are dealt three cards and a dealer is dealt four cards, and hand rankings are determined according to poker values, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,810,663 to J. Bochichio. The players' hands are compared with the dealer's hand and bets are paid or lost accordingly. The game requires the player to make an election of High or Low as follows. In a high/low card game, individual players place an ante and are dealt three cards, face down while the dealer is dealt four cards, one of which is face up and the other cards are face down. Players may then fold and forfeit their ante or they may place an additional bet. Their hand is either a high hand or a low hand against the dealer. Any three of the dealer's four cards are employed to present a high hand and any three of the dealer's cards are also employed to present a low hand. If the dealer's high hand and low hand are not of at least a predetermined rank, the respective high hand and low hand players win prescribed odds on their bet dependent upon the rank of their hand and keep their ante. If the dealer's hand is of higher rank than the hand of a player who has bet for a high hand or of lower rank than a player who has bet for a low hand and the dealer's rank was sufficient to qualify, the respective betting players lose both the ante and their bet.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,135,453 describes a method of playing a high/low poker game that includes each seated player placing a first high hand wager in a first high hand betting location and a first low hand wager in a first low hand betting location; each seated player optionally placing one or more additional wagers in one or more additional high hand or low hand betting locations; each seated player designating at least two cards or tiles selected from an initial hand as a high hand and designating at least two cards or tiles from an initial hand as a low hand; determining winners and paying wagers for the first high hand and first low hand betting locations by comparing the relative rank of the seated players' high hands and low hands, respectively; and, if a seated player placed a wager in one or more additional high hand or low hand betting locations, then determining winners and paying wagers for each additional high hand betting location and each additional low hand betting location. A banking version of a high/low poker game additionally includes the step of a dealer setting out a dealer high hand and a dealer low hand to which the player's hands will be compared. In addition, an apparatus for playing a high/low poker game includes a playing area with at least two player stations designated to provide a high hand placement location; a low hand placement location; two or more high hand betting locations; and two or more low hand betting locations. High-Low poker is played in a number of different variants. The most common variants of High-Low games are well described in “Silberstang's Encyclopedia of Games and Gambling,” Cardoza Publishing, Copyright 1996, Edwin Silberstang, pages 67-72. The typical games described usually require the player to elect (often by placement of an additional wager into a common pot) whether the player will play for the High hand, the Low Hand or go Both Ways (by rearranging cards, going both High and Low in certain games).
Similarly, The New Complete Hoyle Revised, Morehead et al., Doubleday Press, Copyright 1991, pages 28-30 describes poker variations including High-Low games. With respect to Declarations, Hoyle states, “In many games, each player is required to declare, after the bets have been equalized in the last betting interval but before any face-down cards are exposed for the showdown, whether he is going for high, for low, or for both. He is bound by his announcement, and if he declares for high, he may not compete for low; . . . ” Although methods are described for declaring the hand, there is no description of a method by which there is no declaration. This implies that “Hands speak for themselves.” That is, all hands must be compared top all other hands on both a basis of High hands and on the basis of Low hands for the specific cards.
In summary, it is desired to find a game that is easy to play and also fast moving. When the player is provided with a considerable amount of participation, and additional winnings based on card combinations not related to only high hands, these games become much more strategic and enjoyable. Furthermore, a game is more exciting if a player feels anticipation and excitement from a number of different sources throughout the game.